SCOOP: 'The Last of Us' HBO Shakeup as Creative Duo Parts Ways
Game co-creator Neil Druckmann, a writer/director under showrunner Craig Mazin, exits to work on his next Naughty Dog game
I cover TV from L.A. I reported on job chaos at WBD, NBCU and Paramount, interviewed Kevin Beggs about Lionsgate’s playbook and covered the mess at Amazon TV. Email me at lesley.goldberg@theankler.com. As a paid subscriber to Series Business, you’ll receive dispatches from Lesley, Elaine Low and Manori Ravindran on the TV business. This is a standalone subscription separate from The Ankler. For access to Series Business and everything The Ankler publishes, including The Wakeup and Richard Rushfield, subscribe here.
As Hollywood continues to be transfixed by adaptations of beloved books, hit movies and iconic TV shows, there is often one key factor in their success: The original creator has blessed the project or is directly involved (read: more than in name only) in the process from the start.
With Hulu’s Emmy-winning drama The Handmaid’s Tale, for example, author Margaret Atwood was “very involved” the series, showrunner Bruce Miller told me in April, joking that “she is as involved as I’m allowed enough time to fit into her schedule.” On HBO’s Game of Thrones, author George R.R. Martin consulted and even wrote episodes of the fantasy drama from showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss that was based on his wildly popular unfinished book series. HBO Max’s The Pitt, on the flipside, was what resulted after the estate of author and ER creator Michael Crichton wouldn’t bless a revival of the long-running NBC medical drama from former star Noah Wyle and showrunners and show alums R. Scott Gemmill and John Wells.
On HBO’s Emmy-winning The Last of Us — which is based on the megahit Naughty Dog video game franchise — Neil Druckmann, who co-created the game for Sony’s PlayStation, has been so hands on in bringing his post-apocalyptic story to TV that he has been credited as a writer or co-writer on five of the drama’s 16 episodes, having also directed two installments. But I have learned that Druckmann, who worked exclusively with showrunner Craig Mazin (HBO’s Chernobyl) in bringing Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) to the HBO audience in season one, will not have the same involvement in the third season, which was announced April 9 — ahead of season two’s premiere.
Sources tell me Druckmann has informed staff at video game developer Naughty Dog — where he has served as president of creative since 2018 — that he is taking a back seat on the HBO series, effective immediately.
Today, I dig into this major development and reveal:
Druckmann’s statement to Series Business, as he plans to share his decision with Naughty Dog staff Wednesday
Why Druckmann is departing, even as season three work has begun
How much of a hand the game co-creator will keep in the HBO series
Druckmann’s next project for Naughty Dog
The photo Druckmann shared on Instagram that hinted at his next move
Mazin’s statement reacting to the news
Who’s on the season three writing team, who else is exiting and who’ll be responsible for the game DNA on the show
How Mazin has described his own process as a writer, his discomfort with writers rooms, and his collaboration with Druckmann
Druckmann’s comments earlier this year about a potential third Last of Us game and about the show’s first season
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